March 31, 2006 12:00 - 2:00 pm
Room B-369, Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC

Speakers:

Solveig Singleton (Moderator), Adjunct Fellow, The Progress & Freedom Foundation

Prue Adler, Associate Executive Director, Federal Relations and Information Policy, Association of Research Libraries

Jonathan Band, Attorney, Jonathan Band, PLLC

Jule Sigall, Associate Register for Policy & International Affairs, US Copyright Office

Steven Metalitz, Partner, Smith & Metalitz LLP

Orphan works are copyrighted works where the owner cannot be found. Books, films, photos, illustrations and other items, some of historic value, may be lost to obscurity if they are unavailable to today's market because they cannot be licensed. But the power to license or not to license is creators' ultimate protection against unfair exploitation. The Copyright Office has proposed to require a "reasonable search" before an unlicensed use can proceed and reasonable recovery for owners if they later surface. How will this work (or not work) for works that are published or unpublished, titled and untitled, and so on? What other measures should be considered? The Progress & Freedom Foundation hosted a Congressional Seminar to explore these topics and related issues surrounding orphan works.

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